Yesterday at 23:53
According to the UN, Ukraine’s population has decreased by 10 million people, or about a quarter, since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion due to the refugee outflow, declining birth rates, and war-related mortality.
This is reported by Reuters, as conveyed by Ukrinform.
Florence Bauer, head of the UN Population Fund in Eastern Europe, said that the invasion in February 2022 worsened an already difficult demographic situation.
The birth rate has sharply fallen and is now about one child per woman, which is one of the lowest rates in the world,” she said.
According to her, a fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman is needed to maintain a stable population size.
Bauer stated that the immediate impact is most strongly felt in regions that have almost depopulated due to the war, villages where only the elderly or lonely people remain, unable to start a family.
The largest share of Ukraine’s population decline is due to refugees – 6.7 million Ukrainians currently live abroad, mostly in Europe. Deaths caused by military actions are also a factor in the population decrease.
